


Grim Reflections

by weatherflonium



Category: Senki Zesshou Symphogear
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Doppelganger, Emotional Manipulation, Evil Twins, F/F, Impersonation, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 15:10:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4881541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weatherflonium/pseuds/weatherflonium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate version of GX12, Tsubasa encounters the Chateau de Tiffauges' defense system.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grim Reflections

Tsubasa Kazanari walked through the winding halls of the Chateau de Tiffauges, guided only by a flickering map encoded into her Gear. She hadn't heard from Yukine or Tachibana for several minutes; from the static in her ear, she guessed that something was disrupting communications. They'd split up to try and reach the control unit of the Chateau, while Maria and the others kept Carol under control; so far, it seemed that they had taken the harsher duty. The jamming aside, there'd been little in the way of resistance inside the Chateau itself, save a few easily-dispatched Alka-Noise. Checking the fuzzy map again, she slid open the doors and walked into a wide atrium. The room was largely empty, but what she did see on the far side caused her to stop in her tracks.

Standing on the far side of the room was Maria Cadenzavna Eve, her eyes closed and a subtle smile on her face, wearing nothing but a nigh-transparent white satin negligee. Tsubasa had seen the garment once, left out as she helped Maria pack, and had been nagged by thoughts and imagined images of what it would look like on Maria for weeks. Standing before her now, Tsubasa's imagination hadn't failed her; the thin cloth barely held back Maria's sizeable bust, and trailed down to do an even poorer job of hiding her volutpuous hips and thighs. Tsubasa felt her breath hitch as her eyes drifted, semi-unwillingly, up and down Maria's body. “Like what you see, Tsubasa?” Maria's voice broke the silence and Tsubasa jumped, suddenly acutely aware of a warm feeling in her loins. Maria smirked and slowly stalked towards her, eyes still closed, sashaying her hips and keeping her chest forward. Tsubasa felt her blush rise, her eyes locked on Maria's movements.

Tsubasa shook her head several times, trying to catch her breath.  _How could she be here? She's outside, buying time against Carol. Not in here, trying to seduce me._ She took a long, deep breath to gather her thoughts, and looked up into Maria's face. Her eyes were open now, but they were unfamiliar; a dark, flat pink, not unlike her hair; nothing like the usual brilliant blue Tsubasa had grown used to.  _Something is wrong,_ her cooler half said,  even as the rest of her was distracted by the seductive curl of Maria's lip and the pure lust in her eyes. Tsubasa wouldn't deny having thought of this image before, but seeing it played out on her face in reality was completely new.  _This isn't her,_ said the sensible voice; now slightly over the initial shock, Tsubasa agreed enough to step back, only to meet with the woman's arm. The sudden contact was enough to jolt Tsubasa to enough of her senses to finally ask “Who are you?”

The woman who was-yet-wasn't Maria smiled; a transparently false smile, not like any she'd seen on Maria since before their first concert together. “Does it matter?” the false Maria asked, her voice husky. “This is what you want, isn't it?” Tsubasa felt the doppelganger's arm sliding up her leg, trying her hardest not to shiver at the sudden touch. As if sensing her weakness, not-Maria leaned in closer, lightly brushing her lips against Tsubasa's. Tsubasa tried to step back, only for the doppelganger to smirk.Before she could even react, the doppelganger pulled her in to a deep kiss; before Tsubasa could even react, the false Maria's tongue rushed into her mouth, frantically probing everywhere it could. Tsubasa made a token effort to step back, but one of the false Maria's arms had slipped behind her waist.

After what felt like an eternity, the doppelganger  broke the kiss, letting Tsubasa gasp for air .  The false Maria pulled  Tsubasa in closer,  sliding her lips only centimetres from Tsubasa's ear, and whispered “That wasn't so bad, was it? That's what you want from her,  isn't it? ”  She felt the arm behind her slide down her rear, inching ever-closer to the unwanted heat between her legs. “You're a tool, after all...” Maria's voice whispered  into her ear , her  tone taking an unfamiliar edge , “What's the shame in wanting to be used?” Tsubasa felt a single finger tip snaking towards the edge of her Symphogear's undersuit, trying to force its way between the material and her skin; she shivered unwittingly at the touch. It'd been so long since she felt a hand other than her own... “She'd never do this for you,” the other Maria's voice whispered, “She doesn't want you, not the way you want her.”  The finger slipped under the suit, followed shortly by another. “But you could just give in here...” The other-Maria's voice was dripping with lust; Tsubasa felt the fingers slide closer and closer to her folds, and a part of her said  _maybe that wouldn't be so bad_ .

The simple act of thinking it was a shock to her. She couldn't  _just give in_ , not on a day like this; finding and shutting down the Chateau was more important than anything.  She couldn't concern herself with base sexuality with the world at risk. Certainly more important than something as sad as acting out her fantasies about  Maria . Who or what this person was, she was sure it was a trick. Before she could let herself be swept up again, Tsubasa slapped the arm away from her and twisted back, hoping to catch the doppelganger with the back of her hand as she turned to face her...

...only to stare into an empty room. Just as quickly as she had appeared, she was gone. Tsubasa took a dizzy step back and felt her back bump against someone; she whirled around, drawing her sword, only to lock her eyes with the one face she would never forget. In the centre of the hall stood Kanade Amou, not a day older than when she had died; she was still clad in her shattered Symphogear, a look of pure shock on her face. Her brilliant red eyes (definitely her eyes; Tsubasa could never forget those eyes) dripped with tears, which slowly began to run down her face. “T-Tsubasa?” Her voice, while forever familiar, had a note of heartbreak that Tsubasa had never heard in it, not even as Kanade lay dying in her arms. Tsubasa lunged to embrace Kanade, only for the redhead to take a step back.

“W-who was she?” Kanade sniffled. Tsubasa hadn't ever heard Kanade _sniffle_ , but she _knew_ that's exactly how it would sound. _Could this actually be?_ Tsubasa shook her head. _She can't. Kanade died. I watched her die. This can't be real._ Tsubasa took a deep breath and stepped back from Kanade; this just gave her a better look at her once-partner's body. Kanade's Symphogear had all the battle damage from their last concert; all she held in her hand was a cracked fragment of her Armed Gear, the same one she'd sacrificed to protect Tachibana. She didn't seem to be bleeding, not anymore, but she was covered in caked blood. “Tsubasa? H-h-” Kanade sobbed, averting her eyes from Tsubasa. “Have you replaced me already?”

Kanade's  quavering voice, the tears running down her face, her downcast gaze... some things overcome reason. Tsubasa rushed forward, arms outstretched, trying to grab her partner.  For an instant, she felt the faint, familiar brush of Kanade's hair against her hand,  and just as fast the feelin g vanished. Instead, she found her embrace closing around the  false Maria, a triumphant smirk on her face.  The sensuality was gone from her face, replaced with a look of pure scorn. As Tsubasa looked down, she saw that the negligee was nowhere in sight; instead, the doppelganger was clad in Maria's black Gungnir armour from their first clashes. “Unfaithful, aren't we? How long did it take you to toss her aside?”

“I didn't-” The doppelganger seized Tsubasa by the jaw, forcing her mouth shut.

“She died to save you, and now look at you; daydreaming about your new friend. When did you even last say her name?” The false Maria spat the words at her. “Tossing the memory aside for a hopeless lie. The new one doesn't even know you're a dyke, does she?” Tsubasa's blood ran cold. “Do you think she'd still want to be anywhere near you if she knew what you got up to behind her back? Sitting alone in your room, hands tucked under your skirt, murmuring her name between hitched breaths; you'd disgust her. All this time and her trusted friend was just another pervert.”

“You don't know-”

The other Maria slammed her jaw shut again. “But you do. You know you lost your chance; why do you deserve another one?” Her tormentor smiled; the expression was devoid of any warmth or happiness. With such a look beneath the flat,  _wrong_ eyes, there was barely anything left of Maria in her imitator's face. “She's too good for a filthy little liar like you. You don't deserve to touch her; you don't even deserve to dream about it.” The false Maria tossed her to the ground, her Armed Gear appearing in her hand; she lunged forward, shouting “Now die, you dirty slu-”

The doppelganger sputtered as her body jerked back. She slowly turned her head to see a single blue-and-white dagger embedded into her shadow behind her. Tsubasa slowly picked herself up from the ground, a cocky smirk on her face. The false Maria's taunting expression rapidly deflated as a massive, blue katana formed in Tsubasa's hand. Wordlessly, she swung the sword across the room in a wide arc, finally bringing it down towards the doppelganger. At the last second, Tsubasa slammed her eyes shut, catching only a brief glimpse of fiery red hair before the sword struck, bathing the room in blue flame.

“-basa! Can you hear me?” The moment the explosion subsided, Tachibana's voice cut through on the communicator. “The communicator isn't working!”

“I'm here, Tachibana.” Tsubasa answered, audibly shaken. She took a deep breath, then continued “This place... I'll be glad to be out as soon as possible.” She reached up to adjust her headset, then took another, deeper breath. “Maria? Can... after this, may I speak to you about something? It's important.”

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is dedicated to every fanartist who draws Maria with pink eyes instead of her usual cyan/light blue; the only time she appears as such in canon is the evil version created by the Chateau de Tiffauges. So naturally, after seeing all these pink-eyed Maria/Tsubasa pics, I had to write an encounter between Tsubasa and the system impersonating Maria. And any mindfuck shapeshifting psychological warfare involving Tsubasa is also going to involve Kanade, of course.
> 
> I'm playing with the Chateau's defense system a bit; in canon, it seems largely restricted to being a combat system which assumes the appearance of someone from the target's memories. This version is a little more intrusive; it's largely a psychological warfare system that tries to get into the target's head and dissuade or entrap them, which is IMO a much more effective use than the canon "well they wouldn't hit their old friend".


End file.
